It was afternoon, and the residents of the small village of Qariudal were happy about a simple event: pilgrims from the village had returned from Karbala. The village of Qariudal, consisting of mud houses nestled in the remote mountains of the Sangtakht and Bandar district in Daikundi province, is one of the poorest areas in Afghanistan, with no signs of prosperity or development. The villagers were joyfully preparing to welcome back the Karbala pilgrims. About 40 villagers were supposed to travel through the mountainous and dirt roads to Ghor province to bring the pilgrims back to the village. Seventeen men from the village prepared earlier than the others and set off. Around two kilometers from the village, they were stopped by four masked men, three of whom were carrying Kalashnikov rifles, and one had a handgun. One of the armed men told the villagers, "We are members of the Islamic Emirate and have received a report that someone among you is suspected of sabotage, so we need to search you all."
The body search began, but unexpectedly, the attackers took all 17 villagers' mobile phones and put them in a bag. Then they ordered them to line up. Three of the masked men were holding Kalashnikovs, and the one with the handgun had a phone in the other hand, taking pictures and videos. The men of Qariudal village stood in line. The three men pointed their weapons at the lined-up villagers and fired continuously.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the valley and village, and the men and women who were on their way or preparing to head towards Ghor ran toward the sound of gunshots in a panic.
"I saw the armed men calmly shooting my friends, and one by one, they fell to the ground."
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| The residents of Qariudal village beside the bodies of the victims - Shared with Wafayee.com |
Abdul Hakim (a pseudonym), a resident of Qariudal and one of the companions of the victims of Thursday’s massacre, described in a phone conversation with Independent Persian how the 17 Hazara men were shot by members of ISKP.
Hours after the massacre, ISKP released a video of the incident, stating they had killed "15 apostate Rafidis."
In the video, four men from the lineup who were falling to the ground one by one tried to escape the barrage of bullets. The attackers targeted the fleeing men, and after a few steps towards the village, they too collapsed. One of the attackers, who recorded the video, fired the last bullets with his handgun at the heads, faces, and bodies of the executed men to ensure they were dead.
Abdul Hakim, who witnessed the event, said the attackers fled on motorcycles and took one of the victims' motorcycles with them. He said that the residents of Qariudal were plunged into deep fear, and the entire village was gripped by sorrow and terror. Four of the men who were targeted while trying to escape were seriously injured, and one of them is in critical condition. According to Abdul Hakim, the survivors, who are now being treated in Nili hospital, said the attackers called the victims "polytheist infidels" while shooting at them.
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A combination of the village of Qariudal and the shooting scene of 17 residents of this village by ISIS attackers - Shared with Independent Persian |
This incident occurred while Taliban spokespersons and officials claim that security has been established and ISKP (Islamic State - Khurasan Province) has been contained.
Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the incident in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the perpetrators would be arrested. Abdul Hakim, who was present at the scene, said local Taliban officials were contacted after the incident, asking them to come to track down the perpetrators and transport the injured, but they arrived hours late.
The series of attacks on Hazara and Shia civilians began in early 2015 with the establishment of ISIS-Khorasan. Since then, the group's suicide attackers have targeted Hazara and Shia mosques, schools, gathering places, shrines, hospitals, and weddings in Kabul and various other cities. The continuation of these attacks has led to the launch of a campaign in recent years to recognize the Hazara genocide by human rights organizations both inside and outside Afghanistan.
Activists of this campaign argue that recognizing the Hazara genocide would prompt the United Nations and responsible governments to take action to stop it and provide a means for bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Mukhtar Wafayee, for Independent Persian
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